WhippedFlich's Promise
by TheGummiBear
Summary: Filch always wanted to whip the Weasley twins what if he got the chance? AU rewrite of book five and consequently the rest of the series as well. Fred and George centric.


Whipped- Filch's Promise...

Summary: Filch always wanted to whip the Weasley twins- what if he got the chance? AU- re-write of book five and consequently the rest of the series as well. Fred and George centric.

Disclaimer: The first paragraph is the same in the book only I've slightly adapted it to my own style of writing so that it fist in with the rest of the fic. I don't own any of the sentences which are left the same and none of the characters except maybe one or two which you will not find in the books. Oh yeah, and just assume that Fred and George got an O in potions for their OWLs so that they could get into Snape's NEWT class. Otherwise part of the story just doesn't work. I only realised after I wrote it.

WARNING- Will contain spoilers for the seventh book and any of the others if you happen not to have read them, but if you haven't you're totally insane and you really should.

Filch elbowed his way closer to Umbridge, almost crying with happiness, " I've got the form Headmistress," he said hoarsely, waving the piece of parchment Harry had just seen him take from her desk, " I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting... oh, let me do it now..."

" Very good, Argus," she said. " You two," she went on, gazing down at Fred and George, " Are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."

" You know what?" said Fred, " I think we've outgrown full-time education."

" Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," George agreed lightly.

" Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" Fred asked, grinning somewhat smugly.

" Definitely." George replied.

And before Umbridge could say a word, they raised their wands and said together:

_" Accio brooms!"_

Harry heard a loud crash somewhere in the distance. Looking to his left, he ducked just in time as Fred and George's broomsticks, one still trailing the heavy chain and iron peg with which Umbridge had fastened them to the wall, were hurtling down the corridor towards their owners; they turned left, streaked down the stairs and stopped sharply in front of the twins, the chain clattering loudly on the flagged stone floor.

" We won't be seeing you," Fred told Professor Umbridge, swinging his leg over his broomstick.

" Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," George said, mounting his own, chain clattering as the broom sank a couple of centimetres.

It should have been the perfect escape, something that would have been talked about for years, would have become Hogwarts legend, which it did, although not in the way that the twins would have liked it to be, but luck was definitely against the Weasley twins that day. The brothers should have sped out of the open front doors into the glorious sunset, but, as their brooms shot up into the air, three stunners and two impedimenta jinxes hit the boys and, their expressions shocked, fell the fifteen feet to the ground. To add insult to injury, as the crowd fell silent, the boys looked up, groaning, to see their brooms, precariously hover for a moment, then fall straight onto the them, the heavy chain slamming down on Fred's leg, causing him to cry out in pain. A grin spread over Filch's ugly face. Harry found that he couldn't look away as Umbridge and Filch strode forwards, each grabbing a twin, who were lying on the floor, groaning, hauling them to their feet. He saw Professors McGonagal and Flitwick approaching from within the crowd, but knew that they couldn't do anything. It was his fault that Fred and George would now be the first students to be whipped in hundreds of years. He slunk away, back to the common room, unable to face Hermione, and especially Ron and Ginny, both of whom had been so eager to help him with this plan.

It was a couple of hours until the common room began to fill up with people all eager to talk about that day's spectacle, none of them with any idea of Harry's involvement in the catastrophe. Now, the chance to talk to his godfather seemed like nothing next to Fred and George's safety. Harry, unable to withstand the crowd any longer, crept up to the dormitory, sitting on his bed, patiently waiting for Ron to return, knowing that a confrontation was imminent. Much later, he heard raised voices from the common room, and, upon hearing what sounded very much like Fred and Hermione yelling at each other, ventured downstairs to see a pair of very battered twins, both almost unable to stand up leaning against each other, now both yelling at the tops of their voices at Hermione, ignoring the crowds of cowering first years sitting around the common room. As soon as she saw Harry, an even more disapproving glare came over her face, causing Harry to actually take a step back, and the twins to look round as Harry.

" Harry." Hermione swept past him huffily, a clear expression of disappointment on the face, disapproval evident from her whole manner.

Both twins looked awkwardly at each other, then Fred said, " Harry, this isn't your fault. It was our idea." He looked down at the floor, wincing in pain as his jumper rubbed against his wound.

" Shouldn't you two be in the hospital wing?" Ron asked, coming through the portrait of the Fat Lady, saving Harry from replying for the moment.

" Umbridge won't let Madam Pomfrey anywhere near us." George said told him gloomily, gingerly lowering himself into an armchair by the fire.

Fred, suddenly sitting down on the floor, his face pale, looked up at Harry, " This really isn't your fault mate."

George nodded, " Stop blaming yourself Harry."

Harry nodded slightly, then looked up at Ron who, to Harry's surprise, nodded as well. The third Weasley boy sat down on another chair with a concerned glance at Fred who now looked as if he might puke, then said, " I sent Ginny upstairs to bed, but she'll probably be down again soon knowing her. Where's Hermione?"

Fred and George shot dark glances at each other, " Don't know, don't really care." George said, Fred nodded silently, " As if we don't have enough problems."

" Huh?"

" Ron, are you sure you're our brother?" Fred asked weakly, looking up briefly.

Ron shrugged and Fred laughed slightly, wincing, his face turning green. George was down on his knees next to his brother immediately, but Fred pushed him away, " 'M okay." He mumbled.

George decided it would be better to stay on the floor, and sat with his arm around Fred's shoulders, something which his twin didn't seem inclined to protest against, instead leaning against George's shoulder, breathing heavily.

Ron looked on worriedly, " What did Hermione do?" He asked, when he was sure that his brothers were okay.

" Only went and had a go at us about the whole mess! How can she be angry at us for getting ourselves whipped?!" George's voice rose as his anger seemed to build. He squeezed Fred's shoulders and the other boy looked up.

" It wasn't a bad plan. We just didn't count on Malfoy and the rest actually being quick enough to stop us." He said, defensively.

" Yeah." Harry and Ron nodded.

" Well you should've thought it through better then, shouldn't you?" Hermione was stood at the bottom of the stairs to the girl's dormitory, looking down on the group. Tossing her long hair over her shoulder, she descended to crouch next to Fred and George. Fred was now leaning against his brother, his eyes closed, his breathing shallow.

" Filch really had it in for Fred." George said, frowning at Hermione, " He went for him as soon as his office door was closed. Hardly touched me."

Getting out her wand, Hermione quickly muttered a string of words under her breath, and, with a flick of her wand, a bright white light left the end of the wand, playing over Fred, until he suddenly gasped and opened his eyes. George, holding onto his brother tightly, felt Fred's shoulders relax as if he was in less pain. Pulling up Fred's sleeve, the others could see that the cuts on his arm from the whip had partially closed up and were now well on the way to healing totally. Fred, meanwhile had fallen asleep in his brother's arms, snoring gently in a manner reminiscent of Ron. George looked up at Hermione, his face awe filled, " Wow, Hermione. That's some pretty powerful magic. That isn't even NEWT standard!" he looked down at his sleeping twin, " Thanks."

Hermione blushed self-consciously, then flicked her wand again, performing the same spell on George. When the two brothers were both fast asleep, Ron and Harry carried them upstairs to their own beds.

" Whew! He's heavy!" Ron exclaimed as they dumped George down on his bunk. George stirred and Harry couldn't help a low chuckle as Ron jumped back. They crept out as the twins peacefully slept after their ordeal.

Hermione was still sitting in the common room, staring into the fire. Ron and Harry sat down in armchairs on either side of her. Harry was the first to speak, " I'm sorry about what happened to Fred and George." he said to no one in particular.

" 'S not your fault Harry." Ron said quietly.

" No, it's not," Hermione said to Ron and Harry's surprise.

" Huh?" Ron asked again, looking even more gormless than he had earlier.

Hermione sighed impatiently, " It was a bad idea from the start, but it wasn't Harry's idea. They shouldn't have done it but I think they would have done even if Harry hadn't needed a distraction." She turned to Harry, " Did you find out what you needed to?" She asked him.

" Yeah."

" Then it was worth it." She got up and stalked back to the gir'ls dormitory, her head held high.

Ronb stared at Harry, " Mental." He said with a sigh, getting up.

Harry nodded absently, following Ron up to bed. It had been a long day.

--

In his sleep, Fred tossed and turned, feeling Filch's whip landing on his back and sides again, and again, and again. He must have cried out, because the next thing he remembered was George shaking him to wake him up the next morning.

" Fred! Fred! It's just a dream." He was saying repeatedly, his flaming orange hair sticking wildly up on end.

Fred sat up suddenly, causing his brother to leap back with a yelp, landing on the floor. As George glared up at him grumpily, Fred ran tired fingers through his hair, groaning softly. He really wasn't looking forward to the coming day. George hauled himself up onto his own bunk, wincing at his almost healed injuries, " You alright?" He asked Fred, sure that he wasn't.

Fred desperately wanted to say yes, but he knew he couldn't lie to George so he just shook his head weakly. He got up slowly, pulling on robes. George silently did the same and they made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As they entered, the rest of the hall fell silently. They both glared round until all eyes were looking somewhere else. Many people whispered in hushed voices as they passed, diverting their eyes away to look anywhere but at the

twins.

As they sat down next to Harry, across from Hermione and Ron, Ginny lept up from where she was talking to Luna Lovegood at the other end of the table and hurtled down the aisle between the Griffindor and Ranvenclaw tables to hug her brothers. She sat down between them, each with an arm around her, although Harry and Ron got the distinct impression that they were leaning heavily on her.

" How're you two feeling?" Hermione asked as the room once again filled with the chatter and noise of a normal morning.

" Better." George replied, " Thanks to you."

Hermione blushed again, disappearing behind an unusually high stack of pancakes.

Ron was watching his brothers as George discussed Umbridge and Filch with Harry. It was unusual to see George doing all the talking. It was normally Fred who spoke the most, or at least finished George's sentences. Today he was almost silent, his arm tightly wrapped around Ginny.

" Does mum know?" Ron asked, conversation suddenly ceasing in the group.

Fred shook his head, " We daren't tell her. We don't want her worrying. Or worse actually coming up here to yell at Umbridge."

George nodded, " It wouldn't do for mum to come and get all angry with that old hag, would it?"

Suddenly, a light seemed to come on in Fred's eyes, " Actually, it might not be so bad to tell mum. Can you imagine the look on that old toad's face if she got a howler from mum?"

Hermione sighed in annoyance.

" What?!" Ron asked her, his expression also annoyed.

" Well mail in and out of the school's being monitored, isn't it?" She said impatiently, " She's just waiting for you to send out a letter like that so she can get you for something else. You need to keep a low profile, there's no way you're going to get away with anything like this."

" Bugger." All four Weasley's swore simultaneously, prompting Hermione to roll her eyebrows in an amused sort of way, although the disheartened expression on Fred's face was enough to wipe any trace of merriment from her face.

George watched his brother anxiously. Fred had been badly hurt by Filch's whips and not just physically if his nightmares were anything to go by. It was scary to see the usually happy and flamboyant boy so quiet and unhappy. Fred had always been the hotheaded one, the one who took the blame, the one who got in the most trouble. But they had always equally shared the punishment. This time, George had been unable to anything while Filch took out all his anger and hatred of the boys out on his brother. Sure, George had been whipped too, but it was nothing compared to what Fred had been through. It worried George to see his usually confident brother looking self-concious, and not talking. He knew that something had to be done about Umbridge but he decided immediately that no on was to get hurt. He also guessed that Fred would be reluctant to try anything for fear of Umbridge's retaliation. If there was one thing the brothers didn't want, it was other people suffering for their misdeeds. George couldn't remember a time when they had let someone else take the blame for one of their less than honest acts or one of their pranks.

Sitting next to his brother in potions, George watched Fred glaring at Umbridge as she tried unsuccessfully to interfere with Snape's teaching.

Fred leaned over and said, " First time I've ever felt any gratitude towards Snape. Listen." he handed George an extendable ear.

George stuck the earpeice in his ear and listened carefully.

" ... whipping students Delores? Hardly an acceptable measure, even with ministry standards being what they are today? I mean..." George whipped it out again as Snape's eyes caught his and flashed dangerously. He stuffed it under the table and grinned at Fred, who looked happier than he had in days.

" Even Snape's on our side."

" That's Professor Snape, Mr Weasley." Snape leaned down between the two boys who jumped in shock and fright, " And of course I am on your side. Who in their right mind would go against Molly Weasley where her sons are concerned?"

Fred and George looked at each other and shrugged in agreement, " Very true Professor, very true." they said simultaneously.


End file.
